Welcome to the first of a rare five consecutive days of live racing at Harrah's Philadelphia -- there will be a special live card of harness racing at 12:40 p.m. this Saturday, complementing the Kentucky Derby thoroughbred classic, and joining the regular Wednesday-Thursday-Friday-Sunday schedule. ... Today's card has three $16,000 events for the class-climbing "nw of 5 races" types, with 3-4YO pacers in race 4 and similarly-aged trotters in both races 7 and 9. On the trotting side, there are quite a few horses making their seasonal debuts, with many looking at the upcoming start of the lucrative Pennsylvania Sire Stakes season.

ANALYSIS OF KEY RACES3rd race: GEEZ JOE moves from one good barn (Steve Elliott's) to another (Erv Miller's) as he gets ready for his 3YO campaign. The qualifiers, especially those lovely sub-28 last quarters, suggests that this horse may have improved and matured between two and three, and he rates the nod. Many candidates for gimmick undersides usage here.

4th race: BERING SEA HANOVER is one of the few horses who has not recorded a victory first- or second-time with the Burke Brigade, but we give him excuses: off 21 days and stepping up while third in his debut for the barn, and then a good race, coming back in a 55.3 - 27.3 endgame, vs. a very promising horse. The Dover horses have missed time.

7th race: ONDA SU showed ability at two in between breaking problems, winning a Grand Circuit stake at The Red Mile on September 30. The other two 3YO trotting fillies returning here have drawn the outermost two posts, and our choice may represent the best value of the trio. MULTITASKR HANOVER also can be right there in gimmicks.

11th race: HIGH GLIDER is the sort of horse whose lines sort of scream to us "I have every right to get even better than I have shown already!" A good Q on an off track was followed by a steady closing effort from a bad post, and coming to Phl trainer Melander used Tetrick and won going away. Others have gone faster -- but we are looking at TODAY.

WATCH OUT FOR:If you're looking for the "hot hand" with longshot horses, at Harrah's (and nearby) you need look no further than Andrew McCarthy, the 31-year-old native of Australia who comes off his best season in 2016 (278 wins, $4.5M earnings). But the crowds still have been overlooking McCarthy horses -- Concerto ($53.80) a week ago Friday, and then coming back to win and pay $11.60 this past Friday, a day where McCarthy also visited Victory Lane here with Eyes On The Stars ($49.00). But Andrew's Friday of Big Prices wasn't over yet -- he won the first race at M(1) Friday with Luv At First Site, at $74.20! Follow the hot Aussie!